


Any Other Family Secrets?

by faithfulcat111



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Elliott (The Umbrella Academy) - Freeform, Gen, No Beta, Season runs for like three episodes and then we take a sharp left turn out of canon, Vanya Hargreeves-centric, We Die Like Ben, and i'm skipping around, basically fluff, cause she has been a nanny for the last month, five didn't tell vanya his age, so she sees c h i l d and decides to take care of him, so the snippets becomes a lie in chapter four, sorry in advance, sorry they are all short till then, this is also just snippets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29472486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithfulcat111/pseuds/faithfulcat111
Summary: "Hello Vanya."Ever since that boy showed up in that cornfield, he had been dragging Vanya around Dallas with very limited explanations as to who he is and what is happening. But Vanya can't help but be reminded of another boy she should be nannying whenever she looks at him. Maybe sticking close will do them both some good. After all, who leaves a child wandering alone?
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 20
Kudos: 117





	1. My Hands are Holding You

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU of season 2 where, you know, people actually treat Five like the child he looks like, namely Vanya who has no idea his real age, cause that seemed like an interesting perspective.   
> This will be written in small snippets, so will be short overall. Cross-posted on Tumblr.

"Unacceptable Vanya! We need to stick together!"

"Oh why? So I don't end the world again?" Vanya was simmering as she stopped in front of the car, before whipping around to the boy who had brought her here. "Were you even going to tell me?"

She watched as he thought for barely a moment before admitting, "You know what, in my defense, no. And can you blame me? When you get angry, shit blows up."

"Great," Vanya wrenched open the car door. "Are there any other family secrets you failed to mention?" She could barely understand what the boy was shouting behind her over the ringing building in her ears as she climbed in and slammed the door shut between them.

She paused upon starting the car though as she heard a soft knocking on her car window. "The clock is ticking on doomsday," he said once she rolled her window down. "Just promise me when I need you, you'll be ready."

Vanya snapped her head up, a quick retort ready, but that quickly died upon the figure standing on the other side of the car door. The boy (Five he said his name was, but as ridiculous as it sounded, it just made sense) had not quite softened from the yelling before, but he was slumped, dark circles forming under his eyes. Vanya looked just past him at the man (Luther, another brother of theirs) watching them from a hole he punched in a brick wall. Seven siblings, Five had said in the diner, all with extraordinary abilities. Where were they?

"Fine," Vanya heard herself say and Five's eyes widened slightly before narrowing again. "But if you want my help, first we need to return Sissy's car to her. Cause, once the world is safe, she is gonna want this car to be safe. Or at least know I have it otherwise. Surely what ends the world doesn't happen in the next two hours."

She tried to ignore the sigh and the way Five's shoulders dropped even more as she agreed. "Okay," he stepped back, shoving his hands back into his shorts.

They remained like that for a moment before Vanya said, "Well, are you getting in?"

"Excuse me?" Five raised an eyebrow, although this seemed more in confusion than anything else.

"You said we needed to stick together," Vanya pointed out. The boy's face softened as he realized what she was saying and he jumped (not quite something she was used to yet, seeing him disappear and reappear instantly somewhere else) to the other side to get in the car. How many times had he been left behind or forced to be alone, she wondered as she shifted the car into gear and started off towards the farm.


	2. They Say That Time's Supposed to Heal You

"So, Diego can control knives and such and he was stabbed?" Vanya asked as the two approached what appeared to be a tv store.

Five was picking at his shirt, something that was shoved at him as he was pushed into the bathroom while they were at Sissy's. Vanya hadn't been quite sure how to explain everything, but Sissy, bless her, was willing to wait for explanations until later and focus on the mess Vanya's little brother was. Five had not been pleased, but was easily placated with a cup of coffee and a sandwich Vanya made that caused him to freeze for a long moment before eating and jumping them back into town without the car. She still wasn't sure why she had thrown marshmallows on it, but it worked.

"He controls trajectories, things that are thrown. He just perfers knives," Five explained, that underlying annoyance becoming more apparent. "I imagine the knife was not in the air when it was stabbed into him, but I wasn't there."

Five had been giving her a slightly better breakdown of their different siblings and now she was about to meet another. "And there are three of us you still haven't found?" She asked.

Five winced and opened the door as he said, "Yes, although I imagine Klaus and Ben can be found together."

"Why would they be-"

"Oi, there you are short stack, where have you been?" Vanya was startled as another voice cut her off and she looked up to find a woman in a jumper and choppy hair staring down at them.

"Who is that?" Vanya asked.

"That is Lila," Five sighed. "Diego's friend. Ignore her."

"Seriously, after I saved your brother's life and everything?" the woman was loudly chewing gum and watched the two climb up to the second floor, but Five was just ignoring her as he said to.

Vanya stood back a little as she wasn't sure if she should introduce herself as Five clearly wasn't going to when she noticed the nearly naked man on the couch glaring at her. She looked back and forth from the three other people before going with, "Hello, are you Diego?"

"Really? My hair grows out and suddenly you can't recognize me," the man's eyes narrowed as he pushed himself up on his elbows.

"Hey idiot, she doesn't know who you are cause she lost her memory. Woke up in the ally back there like the rest of us," Five snapped as he crossed back into what appeared to be a kitchen.

"Doesn't change that the last time I saw her, she was trying to kill me. Trying to kill all of us or am I the only one who remembers that little detail," the man, Diego, Vanya had decided, snapped back.

Another man emerged from the back room and stared at her a moment as he pulled down a couple of mugs and Lila slid up next to her, "Trying to kill these two? Don't blame ya, they really are the worst."

Ignoring Diego's protest, Vanya just said, "I'm really sorry about whatever I did in trying to kill all of you. I don't remember any of it and have no idea why I would be so mad to try that, but it shouldn't have happened."

Diego stared at her for a moment during which Five walked back in with another cup of coffee (did that kid drink anything else?) before saying, "Okay, I'll take it for now. But once we figure out how to get your memory back, I want a proper apology. For everyone. Cause some people may not ask for it, but we all need one." His eyes drifted over to the boy who was quietly sipping his coffee and Vanya nodded.


	3. Standing there alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego and Lila head off to the consulate alone while Five and Vanya continue the search.

"Do you really think that letting them go alone is a good plan?" Vanya asked as she watched Diego and Lila drive off together in a borrowed suit from Elliott and a dress that Vanya had no idea where it came from.

Five raised an eyebrow as he shoved his hands in his pockets, "You're the one who didn't want to go to the consulate. And I am certainly not leaving you to wander the city looking for our last two siblings alone, so this is the best idea we got." He turned and started towards south Dallas, "Besides, loathe as I am about the situation as I really don't trust Lila, she might be able to keep Diego on track and not dive headfirst into his usual vigilante nonsense.

Vanya hummed as she walked with her brother, watching him as he kicked at the sidewalk. Diego had appeared to be overdefensive when she first arrived at the tv store, but didn't have any problem leaving her alone with their little brother despite the fact that she had ended the world. Apparently. His girlfriend, maybe, Vanya still wasn't clear on the relationship, seemed a little more nervous as she kept looking over at Five before they left and Diego seemed to have to convince her. 

The other man, Elliott who actually owned the store Five, Diego, and Lila were staying at, seemed aa anxious wreck, but in a more general sense. He seemed scared of Five, but was decently nice otherwise, which just further confused Vanya. 

It seemed everytime Vanya managed to weasel more information about her past and her family out of the two brothers, she was left with more questions then answers. They had powers, but explaination of how they did. They were adopted by a billionaire who trained them, but Diego convinced he was some sort of villain and Five was more indifferent but convinced he could help them. They were stuck fifty years in the past, but couldn't go back the same way they came. The world ended, but other than Luther mentioning she did it because of a bad childhood, no explanation on why she would go that far. On top of that, while Five was able to give a rough breakdown on each of their siblings, it seemed so basic like he really couldn't provide more. Did they not spend time with their brother ever before getting sent back in time?

The bad childhood comments made Vanya nervous to bring up more questions about it cause it sounded like they didn't have a great childhood in general and Five was significantly younger than at least the siblings she had met so far. Although Five had mentioned that they landed at different times, but still.

"So, why are we heading to south Dallas?" Vanya finally asked as she turned her attention from the mount of confusion her family apparently was to the task at hand. 

"I have no leads for Klaus or Ben," Five said, his eyes scanning everyone they passed. "And with Klaus the way he is, he could be anywhere. He'll be back in Dallas within a week, but beyond that, there is no guarantee he is still here right now. He better be, but I have a better lead on Allison. I doubt she would have been able to get far and she has much more at stake to get home."

"What does that mean?" Vanya asked, excitement of having at least a sister among the truly insane amount of brothers dwindling at that.

"She has a daughter. Who didn't come with us," Five mouth was in a thin line as he grimaced. "If, for no one else, we can at least save the world and get home for her."

Vamya blinked in surprise, but didn't have long to process as she to start running after Five who suddenly took off towards a shop with a man holding a paper bag, stumbling across the street. "Hey hey hey!" the man protests as Five wrenches a tall bottle from his hands, grabbing for it at first, before wrapping his arms around the bag when Five goes for it. "What the hell, man. Where have you been?"

"I just got here," Five snapped. "What are you doing, shitheel?"

"Look I've had a rough day, I needed some- Vanny!" the man had finally spotted Vanya and immediately wrapped his arms around her. 

"Vanya, this is Klaus," Vanya heard Five say. "Klaus, Vanya is missing her memory. Be nice."

"You lost your memory!" Klaus gasped, pulling back to look at her. Vanya looked up at him, surprised to see how much softer he was than any of her brothers, although him being drunk based off the smell probably helped. "That is horrible! Is it because of the whole gunshot or the big energy thing you did or did you hit your head?" 

"What?" Vanya blinked as she tried to process this new info.

"She got hit by a car," Vanya and Klaus looked over at their other brother who sniffed at the bottle he had taken from Klaus before going to take a drink. 

"Hey!" Vanya lurched forward to snatch the bottle away from her little brother. Five started to snarl and reached for it again, but Vanya held it away and said, "Aren't we supposed to be looking for our siblings? We can't do that while drinking in public."

Five narrowed his eyes before saying, "Fine. Klaus, do you know where Allison is?"

Klaus, who was watching the interaction, lit up at the question, "Of course I do mein Brüder! I stayed with her just last night! Let's go!" 

He took off, chattering the whole way, and Vanya followed with Five. She leaned slightly closer to him as she asked, "Where is Ben? I thought you said that he would be with Klaus."

Five blanched and whispered, "I'm sure he is here."

"What do you mean?" Vanya pushed.

"Ben is dead."


	4. His smile may hide tears as the due

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small reprieve at the farm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also known as what should have been another small snippet quickly spiralled out of control

Vanya ran out of the house after her little brother, leaving her very much drunk brother with their sister. All of whom she had no idea existed this morning. It was more than enough to make her head spin, but after spending the last hour trying to keep everyone from just drinking from the ridiculous stash Klaus had bought, keep the conversation on track, and watch as Five continued to get closer and closer to losing his temper till he finally just stormed out. 

"Hey," Vanya reached out to barely grab his wrist, stepping back as Five whirled around, his eyes flashing as she lifted her hand slowly. "I know that conversation didn't go the way you wanted it to. But you can't just run off like this."

"Why not?" Five snapped back. "It's not like they believe me. I don't know why I expected any of you to believe me, none of you did last time."

A shiver ran up Vanya's spine as she realized that definitely included her. "I know we didn't before. But Diego is trying to help. He may be getting distracted, but he seems to be trying. And I'm trying." She ran one of her hands up her arm with a sigh, "I really don't know how to help with all of this. Is there something different we can do from what you tried last time?"

Five blinked as he looked back at the house before sitting hard on the curb they were standing by. Vanya sat down beside him and waited for him to start, "I tried to do it all myself last time. And that failed in the worst way possible. I'm trying to change things this time. It just isn't working." 

"Why don't we give them tonight to think everything over?" Vanya suggested. "We try one more time tomorrow and if they still aren't interested in helping, we can let them catch up on their time."

"You suggesting last-minute panic might motivate them?" Five asked with a huff. "Cause that, may not actually work..."

"I'm suggesting," Vanya cut in, "that a fresh day and whatever info Diego and Lila collect may give us a different way to convince them. It works with Harlen, it may work with them." She smiled slightly as she thought of him, before looking over at Five, who was tugging at the collar of his borrowed shirt as he stared out at the darkening sky.

Five raised an eyebrow before sighing, "Fine. We will wait, shall we go?" He held out his hand. 

"Where now? I thought that was everyone?" Vanya questioned. 

"It is, but Diego and Lila won't be back till late and I really want my clothes back. I know you told that lady that you might be away for a few days, but," he trailed off, his hand still awkwardly held out between them.

Vanya smiled, soft as she noted how tense he was. Emotions did not appear to come easy to her little brother. While she would have been fine keeping her word and staying away for a few days to help him, the fact that she could sleep in the only familiar place she knew was a comfort. 

"Okay," she said, taking his hand. "Let's go."

********************************************************************************

Five had landed them at the end of the driveway leading them to Sissy's farm with a wince. Vanya noticed, not for the first time as he seemed to favour his left side as they started down the road. Sissy apparently had noticed them walking and was waiting on the front porch by the time they arrived. She looked practically bursting with questions, both from everything Vanya couldn't answer earlier, but new ones about why they were back. Vanya shook her head slightly, just asking, "Do you mind if he stays here with us tonight?"

Sissy softened immediately and said, "Of course. I just finished setting up for dinner. And I got his clothes clean, so they should be dry by tomorrow." 

Five seemed to find this acceptable as he just grunted and pulled himself up the porch by the handrail and into the house. Vanya paused next to Sissy, "I'm sorry again for all of this. We found the rest of our siblings, according to Five, but none of them seem very keen on keeping any sort of eye on him and..."

"Hey, it's okay. You do what you got to do to help your little brother," Sissy said, brushing Vanya's hair back. 

"Thank you," Vanya said with a smile before following her inside. 

Vanya pushed up the door to her bedroom with a soft knock, noting how Five sat on her bed, scribbling into a notebook that Sissy had given him after dinner. She placed the first aid kit she was carrying down next to him and poked at his shoulder, “Hey, you said you would let me take a look, remember?” 

Five looked up at her, the dark circles under his eyes standing out even more in the dark light, “It really shouldn’t be bad. Mom cleaned it up. She is the best at what she does.” 

Vanya startled slightly. She had yet to hear about any mother figure in their lives, but whoever she was, she clearly knew what she was doing because when Five finally tugged up the bottom of his undershirt, she could see a line of careful stitches across his stomach. It was just starting to redden, so she pulled out some antiseptic while she asked, “You haven’t mentioned her before. Did you not bring her with us?”

Five grimaced as she started cleaning the stitches, “No, she…. I think she got buried when our house collapsed. We didn’t get a chance to pull her out and fix her before the world ended and we had to jump back.” 

Vanya pulled back, head tilted slightly, “Fix?”

Five lowered his shirt back down, “Yeah, Dad built her when we were young. Pretty sure to avoid any legal consequences to the way he was raising us. Easy to do that when you had a robot literally programmed to follow your every order.” We? Vanya was confused by that. While she had yet to figure out exactly how old she was, she had to have at least ten years on her brother, probably more, and their siblings definitely were closer to her age range, probably older than to Five’s. Before she had a chance to push that line of thinking though, Five flipped a page of his notebook, pointing down at the page, “I would rather find us a safer way home, which is why I want to meet with Dad, see if he knows something about time travel that he never told me, maybe to hone my powers to something safer than stranding us across several years. But, based on that video, I don’t know if we’ll have a chance before everything goes wrong.” 

“Video? What video?” Vanya asked. Diego and Five didn’t mention that.

“There was a video Hazel gave me, no you don’t know who Hazel is. I don’t think you ever met him,” Five cut in when Vanya opened her mouth to ask another question. “But he gave me a video. He didn’t get a chance to explain what it was for before he died, but Dad was there. I don’t know why, but he was. So, I figured, since he is in town anyway, may as well ask for help.”

Vanya packed up the first aid kit, thinking for a moment before asking, “Did this Hazel know who our dad was too?”

Five looked up at that, “What?”

“Could that be why he gave you the video because he knew who our dad was? Why a video then?” Vanya asked. She was vaguely following, but that part did confuse her. If she didn’t know who this Hazel was, clearly he was a new addition. But Five had said their dad had died recently from his perspective and he was the newest one to the 60s. Damn, this timeline was too confusing.

Five just looked at her for a long moment before asking, “Vanya, do you want to watch the video?”

She blinked, “What?” 

“You don’t know who Dad is. Not anymore. If Dad wasn’t the point of the video, maybe you can catch what was without the distraction the rest of us have,” Five said. “I mean, Lila and Elliott watched it too, but they were both distracted by our reaction to Dad. And…” Five trailed off for a moment, “Lila did start to notice something before we distracted her. Maybe…” 

Vanya nodded, “Okay, I’ll try watching it tomorrow morning. After breakfast, we can head back to Elliott’s and check it out.”

“Why not now?” Five had closed his notebook and was starting to move around, looking for his shoes. 

Vanya sighed and pushed him back down on her bed, “Because I’m not going to notice anything while I’m half-asleep. I need rest and so do you. Sissy says that her husband is out on a business trip until tomorrow night, so you can sleep here. I’ll take the couch.” When Five started to protest, she firmly pushed him down again, “No, it is just for one night. Get some sleep. You’ll be able to think and work better afterwards.”

Five was silent for a moment before asking, “Does she have decent coffee at least?”

Vanya smiled, “The best.”

********************************************************************************

Vanya was awakened the next morning by Sissy moving around in the kitchen and she carefully walked in as a cup was placed on the counter for her. “Thank you,” she smiled and took a long sip. 

“How is your little brother?” Sissy asked, worry in her eyes as she stirred her own coffee. 

Vanya looked back at the closed door to where her room was for a moment before turning back, “He is stressed. I really don’t know why he seems determined to spend most of his time on his own, but he is. Or maybe…” She trailed off, her eyes shifting to look out the window.

“The rest of your siblings don’t care?” Sissy voiced what Vanya was afraid to. Vanya grimaced. She had expressed that worry to Sissy many times. That whoever she was before wasn’t missed or that whoever she was with before didn’t want her and that is why she put missing ads in the papers for a month with no answer. “What about your parents?” Sissy asked.

Vanya grimaced. She wasn’t quite sure how to explain this part without explaining all the time travel bits. “They are…” she trailed off, tapping her fingers against her mug. “Five told me our mom was dead last night. Apparently, it was recent, so I don’t know if I even would have known before I lost my memory.” 

Sissy sat her own mug down, hard, “Vanya, I…” She flicked her eyes up to something behind Vanya before turning her head towards the window as the sound of gravel crunching filled the room. A car was pulling down the driveway. Vanya turned to see her brother staring out the window from the entrance of the hallway, dressed in his uniform once more only without the blazer and his shoes, his hair sticking up and his eyes wide. Behind her, she heard Sissy say, “Carl’s back.”

Vanya got up and pressed her cup of coffee into Five’s hands, before grabbing the phone to dial the tv store. Five blinked down at the cup that appeared in his hands before looking up as Carl came in, shouting at Sissy about something to do with a sale. He seemed happy, so it must have gone well, but Vanya waited for the ringing to stop and a voice to appear over the phone, “Hello?”

Vanya smiled as she recognized the girl, “Hi Lila, Five and I will be arriving soon as we eat. Did everything go okay last night?” 

“You could say that. Didn’t really see anything, but Luther was here when we got back,” Lila’s voice crackled across the line. Vanya could see Five step closer to her as Carl turned around finally noticed him. “Did you guys find anything?”

“Yeah, we found the rest. I’ll see if we can bring them with us. Let Diego know, please,” Vanya asked.

“10-4 boss,” the line clicked and Vanya turned to grab her coffee back from Five to find him staring down Carl as he drained it. 

“Carl, this is Vanya’s brother. One of them, apparently,” Sissy said with a smile. 

“Yes, we are going to meet with the rest of our siblings, if you don’t mind me having the day off?” Vanya asked, placing a hand on Five’s shoulder. He was tense, even as appeared calm. 

Harlen emerged from the hallway as well as Carl laughed, “Well of course! Told you those ads would work. In fact, we’re going to go out, the whole family this morning! Cause did you hear, I just landed the biggest sale in Waterton Shower and Shower Accessories Limited history!”

“How could she not Carl, you’ve been shouting it all morning,” Sissy rolled her eyes, turning back to where breakfast had been started on the stove. 

“Don’t worry about that, Sissy,” Carl reached over her to flick off the stove. “I said we were going out and I meant it. I was thinking the Egyptian Room breakfast buffet first, what do you say?” 

A loud scrape sounded from the pan and Vanya cut in, “That’s great, Carl. Why don’t I take over that for me and my brother and you three can get ready to go out. I’m sure you will have so much to tell me when you get back.” 

Sissy looked up at her and Vanya gave her a soft nod. Sissy let out a breath and put down her spatula, “Okay. Come on Harlen, let’s get ready.” 

As Vanya started dishing out the food Sissy had started, Carl turned to Five, who had finally approached the counter and put his, or rather Vanya’s, cup down, “So, how did you find your sister, young man?”

The reaction was instant, Five bristling as he hissed, “Don’t call me that.”

“Five,” Vanya immediately snapped. 

Five stopped, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath and finally answered, “In a cornfield. Is there any more coffee?” 

Vanya put a plate in front of him, “Work on that and I’ll get you more in a moment.” 

She noticed as Five flinched at the food, but he hauled himself onto a stool and started picking at the food. 

“Five? What kind of a nickname is that?” Carl laughed.

“It’s not a nickname. It is my name,” Five growled. “Aren’t you supposed to be going out with your family?”

Vanya set his cup down hard before smiling at Carl, “Sorry, he is a bit of an asshole in the mornings I’ve found.”

“No worries,” Carl stepped back after a pause. “Have fun with your family, Vanya.”

Vanya watched him walk away before turning back to Five. He swallowed before saying, “Don’t apologize for me.”

Vanya raised an eyebrow, “I know you want to be independent, Five. I can see that just from the last couple of days I’ve spent with you. But you seem to struggle with social interactions. And sometimes, if you piss someone off, you need to apologize. Even if you are right.” 

Five blinked down at his plate before pushing the rest to Vanya, “I’m done.” 

Vanya frowned down at his barely touched food, “Are you-”

“I’m done. I…” he cut himself off with a sigh. “I can’t eat a lot. Did you call Diego?”

Vanya picked up her fork and started working on the rest of his food, “Yes, got Lila.” She ignored his scoff as she continued, “Luther is already there. We can see if we can convince Klaus and Allison to come back with us and then watch the video and go from there.” 

Five nodded, “Okay, we’ll leave in ten minutes,” before disappearing with a blink.

Vanya looked back down at the plate of food, her appetite soured, before turning and scraping the leftovers into a container. 


	5. It's Gonna Be No Illusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are back to a short snippet. Told you the lengths would vary wildly.

Vanya hated to admit it, but Five's idea of her spotting something strange from the video did not work quite like either of them expected. It was a solid plan, using her amnesia to see if maybe she could spot something the rest didn't. But it was Klaus who spotted the difference not her. Chatting away about where Lila was getting her nail polish and reeking of whatever alcohol he and Allison had mixed up before coming over, he had jerked and laughed, "I don't remember there being an explosion when I heard about this shooting."

Five had stiffened, muttering, "There wasn't," before rewinding the tape, turning so just his right ear was facing the screen before the loud boom and people started screaming. He stopped the tape again, looking down as he thought for a long moment before saying, "That is what Hazel was saying. Dad wasn't what he wanted to warn me about. There is going to be an explosion that sets off another doomsday." 

Diego groaned, "But what about Dad? Lila and I found he was having shady meetings with shady-ass people last night. He's involved in this assassination. What if the people who cause the explosion are trying to save Kennedy?"

"And clearly they failed considering the world ends in a nuclear holocaust two days later," Five snapped back. Vanya reached to grab his hand from where it had been clenched, but he jerked away, continuing, "You guys have been here long enough, anything could have set something in motion to cause that explosion and I don't much care for jumping forward into another apocalpyse! Especially with you idiots in tow."

"Hey now-"

Five cut Allison off, "Now, yes we know Dad is here and somehow involved. And we need to talk to him. But Saturday is also somehow important and we need to figure out where that explosion is going to be and stop it. It could be the key to stopping the end of everything."

"But I still say we need to keep an eye on Dad and his creepy-ass dealings as well!"

"Weren't you the one who said last time this happened that we need to stop making everything about Dad."

"Cause your kissass wouldn't stop when we had other things to deal with!"

"Well, it seems your doing the same-"

Vanya startled slightly as Klaus flopped down next to her on the couch, wrapping one arm around her shoulders, "Family arguments are always like this. It gets worst the more of us are here."

Vanya sighed, "How do we ever get anything done then?"

"Blind panic," Klaus snorted before taking another swig from his flask. They watched as Allison broke off at the sound of the phone ringing to answer before Klaus added, "Of course we all have our own ways of trying to deal with the mess that is our family. None of us are good at it."

"Dealing with our family?" 

"Being one," Klaus clarified. "Did you see that guy put relish in the jello? I love relish, but that is a bold food combo."

"Guys enough!" Allison yelled from where she was standing by the phone. There was silence as she turned back to her converaation, "Sorry about that, ma'am. Yes, I'll let her know. Oh? Yes, we did. We do appreciate it. Sunday? Okay, I'll see what I can do." She hung up the phone and turned back to them, "Okay, clearly we aren't gonna resolve anything this moment. Not with everyone bickering. Diego, you want to do something so bad, go find where the explosion can be. Take Luther and Klaus with you. Vanya, take Five to the farm. Lila, you're coming with me. We will revisit the Dad situation when we all have clearer heads."

There was silence for a moment before bickering broke out again, this time all directed at Allison. She sighed and looked over at Vanya, who was watching all this in confusion, and nodded towards their littlest brother. Vanya nodded and walked over to him, gently taking his clenched hand again. This time, he let her, quieting even as he stayed tense, "Come on, I'll get you a new notebook if you want. You said you were work on probability stuff last night. Don't you want to update it now that we know about the explosion?" 

Five stood there a moment among the chaos before saying, "Very well. They are being..."

He waved one hand vaguely. Vanya nodded, suggesting, "A bit much?" A curt nod, but he let Vanya lead him out the backdoor and to the ally where Sissy's car was parked. They were about halfway back to the farm before Vanya thought to ask, "Why do you think Allison wanted Lila to come with her?" 

"I won't pretend to know. But she better be careful," Five said, his head leaned against the car window. 

"Why, don't you trust her?" Vanya asked.

Five's mouth stretched into what could only generously considered a smile, "She wears red shoes."


	6. You and I'll be Safe and Sound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll notice a jump cause I got bored writing the middle stuff. Woops.

Vanya nudged Five slightly before handing him his mug and settling on the steps beside him. He took it, the exhaustion that seemed to radiate off him, causing him to slump against the stairrail as he looked out into Allison's backyard. She sat there with him looking out at their siblings before asking him, "Penny for your thoughts?"

He sighed and took a sip before asking, "Are we sure it is November 25th?" When Vanya nodded, he groaned, putting the mug beside him and dropping his head between his knees. Harlen's borrowed jeans looked even baggier like this and Vanya resolved to get at least one of the burgers in her little brother tonight. 

"Hey," she tried, lifting one hand to rub at his tense back, "you may not know how you did it, but you managed to stop doomsday. Even with that weird mess with Lila."

Five made some sort of strained noise before rubbing at his face to look out at the people gathered, "But that's just it. What if I didn't stop it, only delayed it." 

"What did that probability thing you were scribbling at say?" Vanya raised an eyebrow as he slumped again. "I thought you said it was past the possibility."

"It is," Five finally conceded.

"So, now we can take tonight, relax, sleep," she said pointedly. "Tomorrow you can start working on getting us home. I know Allison and Ray would let you stay here. Or you can stay at the farm with Sissy and I."

"I also got to help you find your memories again," Five picked up his mug again.

Vanya chuckled, "I'm not so worried about those anymore."

Five turned toward her for the first time, lowering his mug, "Excuse me?"

Vanya gave him a small smile, "Look, if they come back, they come back. I'm not too worried about them at the moment. All of you," she gestured out to the yard again, "have made me feel so welcome and at home. And unlike certain bastards I can think of, they've been pretty open about sharing what our past was like."

Five slumped again, "Look, I know I shouldn't-"

"Hey," Vanya cut him off. "I know why you did it. Now. I don't like it, but-" She sighed, reaching over to take his mug and take a long sip of the cooling coffee. They sat there for a moment watching Luther help Ray by the barbeque, Sissy and Allison chatting with a few of the ladies as they set up, various kids running around with Harlen and Klaus. The get-together had been Sissy's idea to meet Vanya's family originally, but it had expanded after Five admitted he had no idea how long it would take him to figure out how to get them safely home. Vanya had jumped at the idea of getting to know her siblings and their friends and the lives they built here, a little better, but looking over at the boy beside her... "Come on," she stood, holding out one hand.

Five jumped in surprise, staring at her hand, "Vanya, what are you doing?"

"You are going to walk with me over to get some food. After you eat, you can go in and work on some of your weird math or sleep. If you don't want to stay here, I'll leave you alone until Sissy, Harlan, and I leave. But only if you eat first," Vanya said. When Five continued to sit there, she wiggled her hand with a grin, "It's not a snake. And I don't bite. Anymore at least."

Five scoffed, lowering his head, muttering, "Anymore, right." Seeing him, Vanya was struck by just how old he carried himself. Like he had grown up far too quickly. But he looked up, a slight shine to his eyes. "If I must." And he took her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that. If I decide to write more of this AU, I'll update the chapter count at that time, but I'm considering this done for now.


End file.
